Isabel Wilkerson

Joe Henson

Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "The Warmth of Other Suns." "Caste and Class in a Southern Town" by John DollardAn anthropologist's study of the infrastructure of caste in the American South, a region that is a political battleground most every presidential election. Written in the 1930s, Dollard's highly readable analysis gives insight into the origins of divisions that remain to this day. "Hiroshima" by John HerseyA searing and unsentimental depiction of the consequences of war on ordinary people during a singular moment in human history, the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. "The Fire Next Time" by James BaldwinFrom one of the most trenchant intellectuals the country has produced, a classic essay as revealing and true today as when it was published 50 years ago, on the enduring cost of injustice and inequality to individuals and the country and what it means to be an American. "The Negro in Chicago" by the Chicago Commission on Race RelationsPerhaps the most comprehensive examination ever conducted of the collision of race and ethnicity in a northern American city and of the path to resolution. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne FadimanAn exploration in a single narrative of two major challenges of our time: immigration and healthcare. With grace and empathy, the author depicts the struggles of an immigrant family and American doctors as they clash over the care of a Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, giving all of us insight into questions of culture and identity.

Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "The Warmth of Other Suns." "Caste and Class in a Southern Town" by John DollardAn anthropologist's study of the infrastructure of caste in the American South, a region that is a political battleground most every presidential election. Written in the 1930s, Dollard's highly readable analysis gives insight into the origins of divisions that remain to this day. "Hiroshima" by John HerseyA searing and unsentimental depiction of the consequences of war on ordinary people during a singular moment in human history, the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. "The Fire Next Time" by James BaldwinFrom one of the most trenchant intellectuals the country has produced, a classic essay as revealing and true today as when it was published 50 years ago, on the enduring cost of injustice and inequality to individuals and the country and what it means to be an American. "The Negro in Chicago" by the Chicago Commission on Race RelationsPerhaps the most comprehensive examination ever conducted of the collision of race and ethnicity in a northern American city and of the path to resolution. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne FadimanAn exploration in a single narrative of two major challenges of our time: immigration and healthcare. With grace and empathy, the author depicts the struggles of an immigrant family and American doctors as they clash over the care of a Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, giving all of us insight into questions of culture and identity. (Joe Henson)

Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "The Warmth of Other Suns." "Caste and Class in a Southern Town" by John DollardAn anthropologist's study of the infrastructure of caste in the American South, a region that is a political battleground most every presidential election. Written in the 1930s, Dollard's highly readable analysis gives insight into the origins of divisions that remain to this day. "Hiroshima" by John HerseyA searing and unsentimental depiction of the consequences of war on ordinary people during a singular moment in human history, the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. "The Fire Next Time" by James BaldwinFrom one of the most trenchant intellectuals the country has produced, a classic essay as revealing and true today as when it was published 50 years ago, on the enduring cost of injustice and inequality to individuals and the country and what it means to be an American. "The Negro in Chicago" by the Chicago Commission on Race RelationsPerhaps the most comprehensive examination ever conducted of the collision of race and ethnicity in a northern American city and of the path to resolution. "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne FadimanAn exploration in a single narrative of two major challenges of our time: immigration and healthcare. With grace and empathy, the author depicts the struggles of an immigrant family and American doctors as they clash over the care of a Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, giving all of us insight into questions of culture and identity.